A Letter from Rich Reaves
NCS Campus Minister

Welcome to the SPIRITUAL LIFE section of the NCS website! In the Spring semester of 1989, my senior class became the first to attend classes at what is now the secondary campus. I had no idea then of the plan God had for my life to return me to NCS to humbly serve as the Campus Minster of my alma mater. God is so good.

During my ten-plus years of serving the Lord as a full-time Youth Pastor, NCS remained close to my heart and prayer life. The Lord has now given me the chance to serve this amazing student body, and for that I am so honored and thankful. I love young people and am consistently amazed at the tremendous impact they can have for the Kingdom of God.

An Emphasis on Christ
The street sign for both the elementary and secondary campus reads, “ Northland Christian School ” (emphasis mine). NCS is a Christian school. I cannot overstate this truth. Not only is the faculty and staff of NCS focused on providing your child with a high-end college-preparatory education, but they are also deeply focused on the spiritual growth of your child. I and the faculty and staff of NCS long for your child to know the love of Jesus Christ and to ultimately claim Him as personal Lord and Savior. Yes, we are fully aware that NCS is a school first, but we will never forget the greater picture. When all is said and done only Jesus will provide the ultimate answers of life. Jesus makes life make sense!

Planting Seeds
Our method for preaching Jesus is to model Jesus, not to pressure your child! We will plant the seeds of Jesus and trust God to change lives one soul at a time. But please know nothing brings greater pleasure and joy than for a precious young person to ask questions about the “Lamb of God,” who takes away the sins of the world. Not even winning the lottery can touch the joy of being witness to a young person say the words, “Jesus is Lord” and knowing you were the primary person, sins and all, used by God in the saving of that soul.

Honored to Serve
As a sinner saved by grace it is my privilege to be an instrument of God on this campus. My pledge to you is to do my best to live out the Gospel message of Jesus Christ on and off this campus. Whatever spiritual need you may have, please do not hesitate to contact me for prayer, or just a listening ear. I am concerned for the spiritual health of the NCS family but can only assist if I am made aware of such needs. Satan is doing his best to attack the family and NCS is here to be a formidable weapon used by God to threaten Satan's efforts.

I ask you to regularly visit this portion of the website, and in closing I challenge each of you to join me in regular and consistent prayer for the NCS family. Let's get excited for another year of academic and spiritual growth!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Although I don't believe there is such a thing as a “bad” child or teenager, I wholeheartedly believe that young people do make bad decisions. Poor choices are often the result of living for the moment instead of “thinking eternally.” A dangerous chance is taken because the child is focused only the visible here and now, instead of spiritually fixing his or her eyes on the unseen eternal future promised to us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

At NCS our aim is to not only train your child to think mentally, but also how to “think eternally.” My prayer is for these precious souls to be taught how to see the greater picture, as most of life and what God has created rests in the realm of the unseen. God is timeless and calls us to have the same eternal mindset in our walk with Him.

Our eyes only display that which is physical, and therefore we often make decisions based only on what we can see and control. But God is spiritual and He gives us the ability now to experience and taste His sweet eternal nature, which then compels us to make decisions, not on what the moment can deliver, but instead on the promised inheritance God will deliver.

Although the physical world and body are wasting away, the spiritual is alive and kicking. We can live for eternity, even in a physical world controlled by time. We can bask in the never ending presence of a limitless God, who has always been and always will be. And when all is said and done, we will forget all the pain we have ever felt upon seeing for the first time that which was unseen, our eternal home with God.

Please join me in asking God to permeate the NCS campus with an eternal mindset. May we all “Learn to Think Eternally.”